With the summer here, southwest Michigan residents are being reminded tick season has begun. Berrien County Acting Health Officer Guy Miller tells WSJM News ticks carry diseases including Lyme disease, which causes rash, fever, headache, and fatigue. He advises those who will be in areas likely to be inhabited by ticks to take some precautions to protect themselves.
“It’s important after you’ve been outside in a potential tick environment to do a tick check,” Miller said. “If you’re out in that environment, you can help by wearing long sleeves, wearing long pants. If you tuck your socks into your pants – I know it looks really cool – but it’s a good way to prevent the ticks from actually getting up underneath your pant leg so you can actually brush them off. Once you’ve done something like that, you’ve been in a tick environment and get back inside, take a shower.”
Also use insect repellant with DEET. Miller says ticks are most likely to be found in sandy soil with vegetation. Our beaches, dunes, and wooded areas here in Berrien County would be a good place to find them. He notes a new tick to the area, the Lonestar tick, was recently identified in Berrien County. That tick has been known to carry what’s known as the red meat allergy. You can learn more about ticks at Michigan.gov/Lyme.
